Tea is one of the most staples and preferred aromatic beverages which could never fail to uplift the moods of those who are drinking it. However, have you ever wondered if you can make tea more interesting? Well, there is one way to make it more interesting and palatable. Just spike it up!

Drinking a tea that is mixed with some amount of alcohol makes it a classic hot cocktail that is extremely savory and gives you the feeling of heaven. And guess what? It is not even that hard to make a hot tea toddy, a classic hot tea cocktail.

The basic hot tea toddy recipe includes a base liqueur, honey, lemon, and tea. This a classic hot tea toddy that has resulting variations. However, as this is the classic one, it is the easiest and simplest to do within a few minutes if you have all the basic ingredients for you.

You can choose brandy, rum, and whiskey for making a perfect hot toddy as per your taste, preference, and availability. Not only that, but you can also fluctuate the flavors of tea, change the fruits and sweeten or embitter the taste of the drink as per your choice.  

So, before any further adieus, let’s get straight into the basics of a hot tea toddy cocktail and learn how to make this.

What is a Hot Tea Toddy Cocktail?

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Food And Drink/REX/Shutterstock (2481115a) Hot Toddy Food and Drink

A hot toddy is a hot drink made up of a mixture of liqueur, water, honey, herbs (in this case, its tea), and spices. More often than not, a hot toddy is traditionally drunk before sleeping in the night, especially when the weather is cold. 

Apart from providing a major relief during the cold weather, a hot toddy is also considered to be a vitamin C for health and has a soothing effect on the body.

Fun fact: Irish people call hot toddy hot whiskey!

A hot toddy is one of the drinks to relax, especially when you feel that your life has gone haywire and you just want to catch a breath.

What Are The Ingredients Required For a Hot Tea Toddy Recipe?

Ingredients involved for a hot tea toddy cocktail are as follows:

• You will require 1 cup of water
• 1 teabag
• Not more than 1 tablespoon of honey
• One and a half ounces of brandy. You can also choose whiskey or rum, as the liqueur is solely based upon your taste, preferences, and availability.
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Remember it has to be freshly squeezed. Refrigerated ones will not give the actual taste of the drink.
• Lemon wedge and cinnamon sticks for garnishing purposes.

Note of caution: You need to remember one thing before you assemble your ingredients and start mixing them. For the drink to have a perfect taste, you need to use the proportionate amount of ingredients as mentioned above. 

Each ingredient has a sufficient taste to offer. If any of them are not proportionately mixed in the drink, the entirety of the drink will not be satisfying as one expected.

What Are The Steps to Make a Perfect Hot Tea Toddy Cocktail?

To make a classic hot tea toddy cocktail impeccable, you need to follow the below-mentioned steps.

Step 1: You need to gather all the ingredients and reckon the measure of each of them as mentioned above.

Step 2: Next, start heating the water. You can heat the water in a tea kettle or a microwave. After the water is warm in a glass, you can add a tea bag for brewing. Allow it to steep for about five to six minutes.

Step 3: As the tea is still brewing, take an Irish coffee glass which is usually used to serve hot beverages due to its high footing and perfect handle. Fill the Irish coffee glass with warm water.

Step 4: Filling the glass with warm water is done to warm the Irish coffee glass. So, once the glass has been warm-up, you can dump the water in the sink and fill the bottom of the glass with a small amount of honey.

Step 5: After coating the bottom of the glass with honey, fill it with some liqueur and juice. By the time, your tea will be brewed, so you can pour the tea into the glass along with the mixture.

Step 6: You need to stir all the ingredients well before you drink.

Tips for making a Hot Tea Toddy Cocktail your favorite

1. Lemon juice for a hot toddy is cherry on top of the cake. So, you might want to use it as much as you like. Perhaps one lemon wedge is a perfect amount to be added to a hot tea toddy cocktail.
2. Now, the step which involves pouring warm water into your Irish coffee glass might have left you wondering as to why we do this. The answer is that when you preheat the glass you are ensuring that your drink stays warm for a little time longer.
3. After you have mixed the ingredients well and your drink is ready, you can again heat it in the microwave for just about 10 to 20 seconds.

What Other Variations Can Be Included In a Hot Tea Toddy Recipe?

1. You can create a hot gin toddy, mixing your favorite gin in it. Apart from fantastic taste, this is also helpful in treating your sore throat.
2. Who said that you need to spice it up? You can just skip the liqueur part and include all the other ingredients.
3. If you do want to include honey as a part of the sweetener, you can just add agave nectar, which is vegan and also sometimes referred to as agave syrup.
4. You can also opt for a simple syrup which is another substitute for a sweetener. Simple syrup is nothing more than solid sugar being transformed into a liquid. You can get it in different flavors such as cinnamon syrup or cranberry spice syrup which can go best with a hot tea toddy.
5. You can also use different types of tea such as black and green teas which mostly go with a toddy. However, you can also experiment with other types.

Also Read: Hot Tea Toddy and Its 9 Variations